You’ve previously heard the Game of Thrones prequel series is set 10,000 years before the events in Game of Thrones.

But author George R.R. Martin is correcting that figure in a new EW interview about his book on the Targaryen dynasty Fire and Blood.

The HBO prequel, tentatively titled The Long Night, is actually set “only” 5,000 years before the events in GoT.

Yet that’s still long enough ago to predate Valyria — the doomed city in Essos that also gave rise to dragons and House Targaryen.

“… it’s closer to 5,000 years,” said Martin, who is an executive producer and co-creator on the new drama “But you’re right. Westeros is a very different place. There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens — Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built. We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series.”

According to Westeros.org, dragons came about after The Long Night: “While Westeros was recovering from The Long Night, in Essos, the peaceful sheep-herding folk of the Valyrian peninsula find dragons lairing in the Fourteen Flames, an immense chain of volcanoes extending across the neck of the peninsula. The Valyrians tame the dragons with magic, which gives them the means to gain influence over the area. The Valyrian Freehold is established.” The rise of House Targaryen was even further along in the timeline, as the family didn’t gain significant power until after the destruction of Valyria and they were only dragonriders to survive.

Of course, this doesn’t definitively mean the show — if greenlit to series — will never include a dragon. The prequel’s showrunner is Jane Goldman and if she wants to get a dragon or two in there, she’ll certainly figure it out (perhaps, given the above description, in the show’s final season, should the drama be a success). But the show’s initial setting is apparently a pre-Targaryen and dragon-free world.

Martin’s original idea for Game of Thrones, by and by, was a fantasy world without any dragons whatsoever. “I did consider in the very early stages not having the dragons in there,” Martin has previously said. “I wanted the Targaryen’s symbol to be the dragons, but I did play with the notion that maybe it was like a psionic power, that it was pyrokinesis — that they could conjure up flames with their minds. I went back and forth. My friend and fellow fantasy writer Phyllis Eisenstein actually was the one who convinced me to put the dragons in, and I dedicated the third book to her. And I think it was the right call.”

The prequel pilot stars Naomi Watts and “chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East, to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”

The cast of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel is coming together.

The premium cable network has cast eight rising stars to join Naomi Watts and Josh Witehouse in the pilot from writers Jane Goldman and franchise mastermind George R.R. Martin. Additionally, SJ Clarkson (Jessica Jones, Succession and the upcoming Star Trek feature) has been tapped to direct the pilot.

Cast as series regulars are Naomi Ackie (next appearing in J.J. Abrams' Star Wars), Denise Gough (Guerrilla, Tony-nominated for Angels in America), Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd, Twilight, Mortal Instruments), Sheila Atim (Harlots), Ivanno Jeremiah (Black Mirror, Humans), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia), Alex Sharp (To the Bone) and Toby Regbo (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald).

As with all things Game of Thrones, details about their characters are being kept under wraps. The only character detail that has been revealed is that Watts is taking on a role of a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret.

The drama is set thousands of years before the events of the HBO flagship. The story chronicles the world's descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. A logline from the network teased the plot without divulging any specifics: "Only one thing is for sure: From the horrifying secrets of Westeros' history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend — it's not the story we think we know."

The Game of Thrones successor show is created by Goldman and A Song of Ice and Fire author Martin. The pilot, which was picked up by HBO in June, is based on a story from Goldman and Martin, with the teleplay credited to Goldman. She also will serve as showrunner. In addition to Goldman and Martin, executive producers on prequel include Clarkson, James Farrell, Jim Danger Gray, current Game of Thrones producer Vince Gerardis, Damages and Bloodline co-creator Daniel Zelman and Chris Symes, with the latter on board as a co-exec producer.

Clarkson will become the first female director of a Star Trek feature when she takes the helm of Star Trek 4, from Abrams. Her credits include BBC/Netflix's Collateral, pilots for Marvel's The Defenders and Jessica Jones as well as episodes of Orange Is the New Black, Bates Motel, Dexter and HBO/Cinemax's Banshee. She's repped by WME and Curtis Brown in the U.K.

Ackie, with CAA, the U.K.'s Hamilton Hodell, Cinetic Media and Peikoff Mahan, will next appear in Abrams' Star Wars: Episode IX, due in December. She most recently appeared in Idris Elba's feature directorial debut Yardie and has a key role in Channel 4/Hulu's The Bisexual.

Gough's credits include an Olivier Award and Critics Circle Theater award for her performance in the play People Places and Things. She starred in feature Colette alongside Keira Knightley and next appears in The Kid Who Would Be King; Juliet, Naked; and The Torture Report. She's repped by UTA and Independent Talent Group in the U.K.

Bower, repped by Paradigm, the U.K.'s Dalzell and Beresford, Vector and Sloane Offer, counts the Twilight franchise, TNT's short-lived Will, Starz's Camelot and AMC's The Prisoner.

Atim counts an Olivier Award for her role in Girl From the North Country and Othello, opposite Mark Rylance and Andre Holland. She's with Middleweek Newtown Talent Management, Fourward, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

Brit Jeremiah, represented by Scott Marshall Partners and Luber Roklin, counts episodes of Doctor Who and Humans among his credits. He next appears in U.K. feature The Flood, opposite Game of Thrones favorites Lena Headey and Iain Glen.Henley, with ICM, Hamilton Hodell, art2perform and Peikoff Mahan, is no stranger to blockbuster franchises having started her career playing Lucy in all three Chronicles of Narnia features. Sharp, a May graduate from Julliard, wrapped MGM's Nasty Women and How to Talk to Girls at Parties. He's represented by CAA and Elin Flack Management

Regbo counts Netflix's The Last Kingdom and recently reprised his role as Young Dumbledore in November's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald. He's currently shooting Netflix's Medici, opposite Game of Thrones grad Richard Madden. His credits include The CW's Reign. He's represented by Authentic Talent and Literary Management, Independent Talent Group and attorney Karl Austen.

Additional casting on the Game of Thrones prequel is expected to be announced later.

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HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel pilot has cast Miranda Richardson as a series regular in the hotly anticipated yet-untitled series.

Richardson, a BAFTA- and Golden Globes-winning actor, joins Naomi Watts, Josh Whitehouse, Naomi Ackle, Denise Gough and others on the series created by Jane Goldman and “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin. Goldman will serve as showrunner.

Known to audiences for playing Queen Elizabeth on British TV comedy “Blackadder” and for portraying tabloid reporter Rita Skeeter in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, among other roles, Richardson has been nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Supporting Actress in 1993 for “Damage” and another for Best Actress in 1995 for “Tom & Viv.”

She is currently on screen in Sky’s 10-part street-racing TV series “Curfew,” starring Sean Bean and Robert Glenister, and will also appear in Amazon Studio’s TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Good Omens” this spring.

The “Game of Thrones” prequel is set thousands of years earlier than the story audiences know now, and “chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour,” according to HBO. The series promises to unravel “the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend.”

Richardson is repped by Paradigm in the U.S. and by Independent in the U.K.

“Game of Thrones” will air its eighth and final season, consisting of six episodes, starting April 14.

HBO's Game of Thrones prequel pilot has added five more actors to what is becoming a very large cast.

The addition of Marquis Rodriguez (When They See Us), John Simm (Doctor Who, Life on Mars), Richard McCabe (Harlots), John Heffernan (Collateral) and Dixie Egerickx to the cast brings the total number of series regulars to 16 — suggesting that the prequel will not shy away from the epic scale that's a trademark of Game of Thrones.

As has been the case with most of the rest of the cast, HBO is mum on the characters the new additions will play. The only bit of character description thus far is that lead Naomi Watts will play a "charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret."

The cast also includes Josh Whitehouse (Poldark), Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: Episode IX), Denise Gough (Guerrilla), Jamie Campbell Bower (Twilight), Sheila Atim (Harlots), Ivanno Jeremiah (Black Mirror), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia), Alex Sharp (To the Bone), Toby Regbo (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald) and Miranda Richardson (The Crying Game, World Without End).

The prequel is set thousands of years before Game of Thrones (whose final season is set to premiere April 14) and will chronicle the world's descent from the Age of Heroes to its darkest hour. HBO's logline for the pilot continues, "And only one thing is for sure: From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend … it's not the story we think we know."

The pilot is based on a story by George R.R. Martin — whose A Song of Ice and Fire novels are the source material for Game of Thrones — and Jane Goldman, who wrote the teleplay and will serve as showrunner. Both will serve as executive producers along with current Game of Thrones producer Vince Gerardis, pilot director SJ Clarkson, James Farrell, Jim Danger Gray, Daniel Zelman and Sara Lee Hess. Chris Symes is a co-exec producer.

The prequel is the first of several potential series set in the world of Westeros to move forward at HBO beyond the script phase. In May 2017, a multitude of writers were revealed by the pay cabler to be working on what Martin himself has described as "successor shows." Those writers include Goldman, Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island), Brian Helgeland (Legend), Carly Wray (Westworld) and Game of Thrones veteran Bryan Cogman. Game of Thrones creators and showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are not involved in the successor show effort, focusing instead on the parent show's final episodes.

Rodriguez is repped by Paradigm, Sinclair Management and Jackoway Tyerman; Simm is with Independent Talent Group; McCabe is repped by Conway van Gelder Grant Ltd.; Heffernan is with Independent Talent Group; and Egerickx is repped by A&J Management in the U.K. and Megan Sliverman Management in the U.S., along with attorney Rick Genow.

Those writers include Goldman, Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island), Brian Helgeland (Legend), Carly Wray (Westworld) and Game of Thrones veteran Bryan Cogman. Game of Thrones creators and showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are not involved in the successor show effort, focusing instead on the parent show's final episodes.

HBO is nearing a pilot order for a second Game of Thrones prequel series.

And this one has dragons — lots of dragons.

The network is said to be close to deal for a project that’s based on the history of the Targaryens. EW hears the series would lead up to and eventually chronicle the house’s civil war — a.k.a the legendary Dance of the Dragons.

The project has been a strong contender for an eventual order since HBO commissioned five screenwriters to try their hand at different Game of Thrones prequel ideas back in 2017 in an unusual bake-off effort to replace its departing mega-hit series.

This pilot concept was particularly attractive to saga author George R.R. Martin, who is on board as executive producer. Earlier this year Martin published Fire and Blood, a history of House Targaryen that spans roughly 150 years. The book detailed events that would be covered in this prospective series and is serving as the basis for the show. Yet perfecting the pilot script — now written by Ryan Condal (Colony) — has taken a while, with multiple writers taking swings at it. There’s no title yet for the new series, but Game of Thrones: Fire and Blood would certainly fit.

The Dance of the Dragons was a massive civil war in the Seven Kingdoms held between two rival branches of House Targaryen. The war occurred roughly 200 years before the events in Game of Thrones.

You might recall in GoT season 5, young Shireen Baratheon read a book about the famed Targaryen conflict and enthusiastically described the war to her father Stannis: “It’s the story of the fight between Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon for control over the Seven Kingdoms,” she said. “Both of them thought they belonged on the Iron Throne. When people started declaring for one of them or the other, their fight divided the kingdoms in two. Brothers fought brothers, dragons fought dragons. By the time it was over, thousands were dead. And it was a disaster for the Targaryens as well. They never truly recovered.”

The project represents a doubling down by HBO on finding a successor to its most popular and award-winning series of all time. The network previously ordered a pilot from showrunner Jane Goldman starring Naomi Watts that’s set thousands of years before the events in GoT when Westeros was on the cusp of The Long Night war with the White Walkers. That as-yet-untitled project predates the Taragaryens and their dragons, and is expected to have a rather different look and feel than GoT. The pilot recently completed filming and HBO has not yet announced if it will receive a series order.

The prequels are unusual for HBO as the network had never ordered a sequel or prequel series to one of its hits in its long history until GoT, but also makes sense given the drama’s massive global appeal and sprawling mythology.